I can’t believe it. Another Mother’s Day is around the corner, and it seems like yesterday that I was getting to celebrate it for the first time as a new Mum. Now, here we are again and I am on the verge of becoming a mother of 2!! So crazy how much can change in a year!

Jasper is now 18 months old and changing so much every day I can’t even keep up. The words were slow in coming at first, and for the longest time I thought the only thing my kid would say was “no” (which was always accompanied by an adamant head shake). But now, literally every day I am barraged with 2 or 3 new words from his ever-expanding vocabulary, that it really leaves Jeremy and I both amazed. “Tractor” is by far the most popular, with “hi” pulling in a close second. Strangers on the street don’t even know what hits them when we come strolling by, as he peppers everyone he sees, people and dogs alike, with such voracious “hi’s”, that he is incapable of being ignored. Even the most unkid-friendly of folk can not dismiss a hi from Jasper. My favourite thing is going in to his room in the morning, where I am greeted with an enormous grin and a “Hi, Mumma!” My heart pretty much melts every time.

I certainly don’t think that Jas grasps the concept of Mother’s Day, but regardless, I am greatly looking forward to my day of appreciation and perhaps a little pampering   With Hatley’s annual Spring warehouse sale still a few weeks off, I am left a little empty handed for presents for my own Mum and friends, so I may be raiding the warehouse for seconds this weekend to load up! The matching Rosy Afternoon rain boots and umbrella make an awesome present, in my own experience, and the 15% off online on women’s apparel is hard to beat!

Pampering of any kind is certainly welcome on Mother’s Day from kids and spouses alike, so if your husband is looking to wow you with a home-cooked dinner that is actually quite simple, here is a great recipe that should do the trick – it even involves the BBQ so it should be right up his alley!

I love cooking on cedar planks, they add such great flavour to fish and even chicken, and are pretty easy to find in grocery stores these days. If yours doesn’t carry them, try the BBQ section at your hardware store, and I even saw them being sold at Cosco. For this recipe I use organic or wild salmon, as I find the flavour so much better than the farm-raised salmon you see so much of these days. I also like to serve this with rosemary oven-roasted potatoes and blanched green beans. So yummy and really simple to throw together.

Grilled Cedar-Planked Salmon:

1 cedar plank, soaked for at least 30 minutes
2 lbs. salmon fillet, skin-on (organic or wild, if possible), cut in to 4 8-oz. portions
4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

In a small bowl, mix together Dijon, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and fresh rosemary to make the marinade for the salmon. Slowly whisk in the olive oil and set aside.

Place salmon fillet on a cookie sheet, and make sure that all of the bones have been removed.  Score the flesh, and rub in the marinade so that it covers the top of the salmon and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes but no more than 1 hour. Pre-heat your grill on high for around 10 minutes.

Turn your grill down to medium. Remove the cedar plank from the water and pat dry with a paper towel. Transfer the salmon to the smooth side of the plank, and season the fish with kosher salt and pepper.

Place the cedar plank on the grill and close the lid. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Let the fish cook, lifting the lid every so often to make sure that it is not charring. Once the salmon is cooked through (crispy around the edges but still tender and pink in the middle), carefully move the plank onto the cookie sheet with a long spatula and let stand for 2 minutes. Plate the salmon with rosemary oven-roasted potatoes and blanched green beans and enjoy!

Serves 4

To all you mums out there, Happy Mumma’s Day, I hope you all get spoiled rotten!!